Image Acquisition in Real Time

About this technology

Overview

Formerly a JPL engineer who constructed imaging systems for spacecraft and ground-based astronomy projects, Carlos Jorquera is the founder and president of the three-person firm, Boulder Imaging Inc. The company's vast engineering talent shines through on its flagship imaging capture and processing software product, AcquireNow. As a Component Object Model (COM) component, AcquireNow provides software developers with the programmatic tools necessary to create software applications that can acquire images from high data rate digital cameras and apply image-processing algorithms to those images. Essentially, AcquireNow users can obtain images from any camera, using any frame grabber board, without having to write any hardware-specific software. In 2002, Advanced Imaging Technologies, Inc., of Preston, Washington, licensed AcquireNow and embedded it in its AveraT Breast Imaging System, which permits rapid assessment of breast tissue in real time, without the discomfort of compression or the risk of harmful radiation. AcquireNow is responsible for capturing, processing, and depicting the images clearly on a computer screen. The company notes that future applications for the software may be seen in airports to expedite and enhance baggage searches, and in machine vision systems to read zip codes on mailing labels.